Sooners Run-Rule FSU to Open Super Regional

Thursday, May 23

Norman

6:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

53-6

Florida State

46-15

Florida State

Oklahoma

Photo by: Morgan Givens/University of Oklahoma

Sooners Run-Rule FSU to Open Super Regional

May 23, 2024 | Softball

Box Score

By: John Rohde | SoonerSports.com contributor

NORMAN – Oklahoma's quest for an unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA softball title took another authoritative step forward with an 11-3 run-rule victory in five innings over Florida State on Thursday night before a crowd of 4,189 at Love's Field.

It marked the fifth time the Sooners have run-ruled a super regional opponent, which is an NCAA record. It also stretched their winning streak to 17 games in NCAA Tournament play, breaking their own NCAA record of 16 straight.

OU hasn't lost a home super regional game since May 24, 2014, to Tennessee. Its last super regional loss came on May, 5, 2015, at Alabama.

If the No. 2-seeded Sooners (53-6) win Game Two against the No. 15-seeded Seminoles (46-15) on Friday at 7 p.m., OU will advance to its eighth straight Women's College World Series next week at Devon Park in Oklahoma City.

The Sooners' heavy-handed hitters pummeled FSU pitchers for 11 hits and four home runs with multiple other line drives ending up as outs.

"A complete game for us," OU head coach Patty Gasso said afterward. "Loved our offense. Very explosive. Very timely. Very clutch."

The performance came against a program the Sooners have beaten in two of the last three national best-of-three NCAA championship series. "Really, really good," Gasso said of her team's offensive prowess. "The best I've seen them (this season). Top to bottom, it's hard to breath when you're facing these guys and they're really feeling it."

Sooners senior left-hander Kelly Maxwell (20-2) went the distance and earned the hard-fought victory with a 118-pitch performance that included surrendering a season-high six walks and two hit batters. However, she also yielded just four hits against a talented offensive lineup.

This was in stark contrast to a pitching staff that issued zero walks in 20 innings while going 3-0 in the Norman Regional. Maxwell opened Thursday's super regional by throwing six straight balls.

"The message is 'Fight through it,' " Gasso said. "We all have to learn how to do that. If we get to the World Series, you've got to fight through really tough times."

OU managed to escape unscathed in the first inning despite two walks and a hit-by-pitch from Maxwell, who threw an astonishing 34 pitches to complete the task.

A key sequence came when shortstop Tiare Jennings made a diving stop on a grounder to her right before throwing out the runner at third base for the second out.

"You know what, Kelly fought her rear-end off for this (victory)," Gasso said. "That's a tough-hitting team. It's like facing our own team. They swing. One thing they're so good at, they probably hit 40 foul balls. Their at-bats lasted forever. I credit them for just being tough hitters, but I also credit Kelly for having to bear down and get through it. Holding them to three runs is big-time."

Senior catcher Kinzie Hansen said of Maxwell, "Her demeanor definitely got more and more dominant as the game went on. That's something I really feel just being with her through all that. It's kind of the telekinesis that we have. It's really cool to see her kind of fight through those things."

Asked if she contemplated pulling Maxwell out of the game, Gasso said, "We wanted to go as far as we could with Kelly we didn't want to show our hand too early because of so many reasons."

Defensively, the Sooners went error-free against quality hitters.

"Defense had big plays tonight. It set a good tone for us early," Gasso said. "Our defense is so locked down. We really want to do anything we can to help our pitchers."

After her defensive gem in the top of the first, Jennings promptly threw another dagger at the Seminoles with a line-drive solo homer to centerfield to give OU a 1-0 lead. The home run marked the 95th of her career, moving her into third in NCAA history and tying her with Sooner legend Lauren Chamberlain.

Second baseman Alynah Torres put the Sooners up 2-0 in the second with a double to right-center to score Rylie Boone from first base.

FSU tied the score at 2 in the top of the third on Devyn Flaherty's two-out, two-run single to right field.

Third baseman Alyssa Brito put OU back in front with the line-drive solo shot to left field to begin the bottom of the third inning.

Boone made it 4-2 with a bunt-single to first that wound up being thrown into right field to score Kasidi Pickering, who previously reached on a sharp single to second.

Torres' hard grounder at relief pitcher Emma Wilson scored Hansen to make it 5-2 on a fielder's choice.

Brito's second homer of the game came in the fourth inning with a towering two-run shot to left-center. After Pickering singled, Hansen followed with a two-run blast to left-center to push the lead to 9-2.

Cydney Sanders lined a single down the left-field line in the fourth to score Boone from second and set up a potential run-rule triumph.

The Seminoles responded with a run in the fifth, however, to make it 10-3 before Pickering eventually sealed the win with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the inning.

Up Next

OU and Florida State square off in game two of the super region on Friday at 7 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with radio coverage available on 1560 AM/103.3 FM The Franchise 2 and 107.7 FM The Franchise.

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